1. 22 Jul


    The Penitent Magdalene. Mateo Cerezo (Spanish, 1637-1666). Oil on canvas. Private collection. Cerezo’s style is that of Spanish Baroque, influenced by Tenebrism. Cerezo was inspired by Titian and the refined elegance of Anthony van Dyck, and his varied, warm palette made him one of the most sensitive and refined colourists of the late Madrid school.  Mary Magdalene holds a skull, a common symbol of mortality. She may be pondering the earthly reality of our mortality and the eternal truth of the spiritual life. The time is sometime after the Crucifixion and Resurrection. The penitent is living in poverty. She obviously has still retained her beauty.

    The Penitent Magdalene. Mateo Cerezo (Spanish, 1637-1666). Oil on canvas. Private collection.

    Cerezo’s style is that of Spanish Baroque, influenced by Tenebrism. Cerezo was inspired by Titian and the refined elegance of Anthony van Dyck, and his varied, warm palette made him one of the most sensitive and refined colourists of the late Madrid school. 

    Mary Magdalene holds a skull, a common symbol of mortality. She may be pondering the earthly reality of our mortality and the eternal truth of the spiritual life. The time is sometime after the Crucifixion and Resurrection. The penitent is living in poverty. She obviously has still retained her beauty.

     

  2. 23 Jun


    St. Thomas, also called Saint with a Pike (1625-1630). Georges de la Tour (French, 1593-1652). Tenebrism, Baroque, The Caravaggisti, religious painting. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris. The Caravaggisti (or “Caravagesques”) were stylistic followers of the 16th century Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. La Tour is best known for the nocturnal light effects which he developed much further than his artistic predecessors had done, and transferred their use to genre subjects.

    St. Thomas, also called Saint with a Pike (1625-1630). Georges de la Tour (French, 1593-1652). Tenebrism, Baroque, The Caravaggisti, religious painting. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris.

    The Caravaggisti (or “Caravagesques”) were stylistic followers of the 16th century Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound.

    La Tour is best known for the nocturnal light effects which he developed much further than his artistic predecessors had done, and transferred their use to genre subjects.